How to Get More Reviews for Your Roofing Business
When potential customers are looking at reviews for your roofing business on Google and other sites (and they frequently are), they look at two things: your overall rating and the number of reviews. Naturally, potential customers trust your overall rating the more reviews you have. That signals that you’ve been in business longer and that your quality is more consistent. So, to inspire more trust and convert more customers, you need more reviews. How do you get them? Here are some ethical strategies to get more reviews.
Ask in Your Follow Up
Every single customer is an opportunity for a positive review of your business, assuming that they had a positive experience. Sometimes the best way to get a review is to simply ask, while in person or on a follow-up call with your customer. If you have the habit of checking in with customers a few days or weeks after their roofing work is completed (and there are many benefits of doing this), this is the perfect time to ask them to leave a review of your business. Offer to send them an email or a text with the direct link to the review platform to make it as simple as possible. Having a great receptionist (or a great call answering service for roofers) can make this a lot easier.
Send Request Emails
So, you haven’t been asking for reviews in your follow-up calls and talks with your clients, so you have some ground to cover. What is the best way to reach out to older customers and try to encourage them to complete a review? Email marketing is a good solution.
Send out an email asking customers for reviews is a great idea. You can explain how valuable reviews are for your business and include compelling arguments, like that they are supporting a local business by simply leaving a review in the email.
Plus, when former customers are accessing the email, they can complete the review right then and there, which often isn’t the case for phone calls and final walk-throughs of the roof. When a customer can complete the review right away, the odds go up that they actually will do it.
Social Media Posts
When you’re on social media, you always have the opportunity to use social proof and social pressure to your advantage. In the case of garnering reviews, one great strategy is to publicly thank a recent reviewer for their time, and also ask others to leave their own review at the same time. You show gratitude for those who are willing to support your business, and that helps more people jump on board. In the post, be sure to mention how critical reviews are for your business as well.
What Not to Do
You may be tempted to motivate former customers to make reviews by offering entry into gift raffles, or even direct prizes, this is unethical. There is always the concern that a reviewer will leave a more positive review than they would otherwise, as you are essentially bribing them. If caught by Google or Yelp, they could remove reviews, or suspend your account. Some businesses have even been fined millions for farming fake reviews.
On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with incentivizing your employees to get more reviews, especially if you run multiple crews.
Always ensure that a reviewer is leaving a comment because they are genuinely motivated to. But know that there is nothing wrong with asking for the review either.
Learn more about 11 Tips for Growing Your Roofing Business and 7 Ways to Leverage Your Roofing Company’s Customer Database.
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